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  • Sandeep Das jamming with Rajib Karmakar playing the sarangi and Kenan Adnawi, an oud virtuoso. In this collaboration, he brings together the intoxicating raga music of India with the magical maqam music of Arabia.
    Sameer Assanie | 09 July 2017 | USA

    The Music of Togetherness

    Sandeep Das jamming with Rajib Karmakar playing the sarangi and Kenan Adnawi, an oud virtuoso. In this collaboration, he brings together the intoxicating raga music of India with the magical maqam music of Arabia. Ismaili Council for Central USA
  • Sheriff Jim Skinner of Collin County and his wife with Sandeep Das and HUM ensemble after enjoying their performance.
    Sameer Assanie | 09 July 2017 | USA

    The Music of Togetherness

    Sheriff Jim Skinner of Collin County and his wife with Sandeep Das and HUM ensemble after enjoying their performance. Ismaili Council for Central USA
  • Sandeep Das and HUM Ensemble with Jamati leaders and volunteers.
    Sameer Assanie | 09 July 2017 | USA

    The Music of Togetherness

    Sandeep Das and HUM Ensemble with Jamati leaders and volunteers. Ismaili Council for Central USA
  • Sandeep Das jamming with Rajib Karmakar playing the sarangi and Kenan Adnawi, an oud virtuoso. In this collaboration, he brings together the intoxicating raga music of India with the magical maqam music of Arabia.
    Sameer Assanie | 09 July 2017 | USA

    The Music of Togetherness

    Sandeep Das jamming with Rajib Karmakar playing the sarangi and Kenan Adnawi, an oud virtuoso. In this collaboration, he brings together the intoxicating raga music of India with the magical maqam music of Arabia. Ismaili Council for Central USA

The HUM Ensemble featured Sandeep Das, Kenan Adnawi, an oud player from Syria, and Rajib Karmarkar, an Indian sitar performer. The trio performed for nearly two-hours, during which they combined Hindustani classical music, one of two classical forms in India, with the Maqam musical tradition of Syria.

For the founder of the HUM Ensemble, prayer and music both have a powerful place in the world: to spread unity and joy. “My religion is music, and my religion is love,” said Sandeep Das, world-renowned tabla performer and Grammy-winner. He was addressing an audience of more than 100 from across the Dallas area during the concert at the Ismaili Jamatkhana in Plano. “So let’s celebrate love, let’s celebrate happiness, and if you like anything we perform, please go out and spread love."
 
An improvised opening piece kicked off the performance. Das explained that less than ten percent of the composition was rehearsed. This presented the audience with a unique experience harkening to the oral, extemporaneous style embedded in Hindustani musical tradition.
 
The name HUM signifies “we” in many languages of South Asia and is an acronym for “Harmony and Universality through Music.” The name is reflected in the Ensemble’s goal to bring together globally-recognized artists from varying musical traditions and show the common bond that music can create beyond cultures.
 
This musical bond has become personal for the performers. Das said he has grown attached to Karmarkar and Adnawi, the latter he calls “the Sultan of Syria.” Das and Adnawi met two years ago and in playing several concerts together have developed an unbreakable connection. For Adnawi, a native of Damascus, who has seen his home country go through turmoil, every performance, now, carries existential meaning. 
 
“Every performance I play,” Adnawi said, “it’s like the first time and the last time I am playing.”
 
The trio played multiple pieces that took more than 15 minutes each. For stretches during each piece, only one instrument was being played. And yet, when a second or third instrument joined in, the music remained continuous but also distinct.
 
Among the attendees was Collin County Sheriff Jim Skinner. The normally outspoken sheriff struggled to articulate his praise for the performance, “Unbelievable! We certainly were in the presence of greatness tonight, weren’t we?”
 
Midway through the performance, Sandeep Das shared the special place this concert had because of its connection to an individual he shares a bond of affection with: Mawlana Hazar Imam, whom he referred to as “my father.”
 
Das, playing in the Ismaili Jamatkhana, Plano, a place where the spiritual presence of the Imam of the Time is felt daily by his followers, reflected on the emotions of having played in front of the Imam, that stay ever-present.
 
“Playing for him is a very different experience,” Das said. “When you play for him and see his eyes and his smile, it’s as if he is the only one that exists.”